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2 days ago
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The Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communication and New Media, Olalere Olayinka, has stated that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, does not run the city’s affairs based on religion.
Olayinka made this clarification in response to a statement by the Director of the Muslim Rights Concern, Ishaq Akintola, who criticised Wike over the suspension of the former Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority, Hadi Ahmad.
Recall that the minister, in November, indefinitely suspended Ahmad and immediately appointed the Director of Engineering, Richard Yunana, as the Acting Secretary.
In a statement on Tuesday, Akintola alleged that due process was not followed in the suspension of the former FCDA Secretary, noting that the minister had not provided any reason for his immediate suspension.
“There is every reason to believe that due process may not have been followed, particularly because the reason for the suspension has not been given to date. The practice in public service is that no suspension is decided upon without an investigation going on pari passu.
“Besides, the principle of fair hearing demands that the former Executive Secretary knows why he was suspended and is given the chance to defend himself. As taxpayers, Nigerians also have the right to know. Dead silence after such suspension suggests traits of impunity,” Akintola said.
Responding, the SSA to the minister urged the MURIC director to focus on propagating Islam rather than promoting religious discord, noting that the suspended Secretary was not appointed based on his religion.
He added that the Minister was under no obligation to publicly declare the reasons for the suspension, as they were already known to the suspended Secretary.
“The suspended FCTA Executive Secretary was not appointed as a Muslim, and anyone trying to cover his suspension with the garment of religion will be doing a disservice to religious harmony in the country.
“Just as it is not obligatory for he who appoints to give reasons for appointing, it is also not obligatory for he who suspends to tell the public reasons for suspending, as long as the person suspended knows why he was suspended.
“Most importantly, the position of the FCDA Executive Secretary is not a family chieftaincy title, and the business of the office once occupied by Engr. Shehu Ahmad Hadi is running perfectly,” the statement read.
Olayinka also called Akintola’s attention to Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) position on obedience to authorities.
Olayinka stated, “I doubt if Prof. Akintola is aware that, on the authority of Abu Huraira, it was narrated that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: ‘It is obligatory for you to listen to the ruler and obey him in adversity and prosperity, in pleasure and displeasure, and even when another person is given (rather undue) preference over you.’
“If Prof. Akintola is aware of this and has imbibed it, he will simply counsel the suspended FCTA Executive Secretary to accept his fate as a Muslim, rather than this seeming sponsorship of media attacks against the Minister and fanning the embers of religious discord.”
